


thread and ash

by ebonynightwriter



Series: Shallura Month 2017 [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Universe, Castleship, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt / Comfort, Mid-Season, One-Shot, Season/Series 04, Shallura Month 2017, Talking About the Past, Thinking and Recollection, Training Deck, altea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 18:05:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12917337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebonynightwriter/pseuds/ebonynightwriter
Summary: Allura sits and imagines. But she cannot remember — not for certain.





	thread and ash

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** Haha, this was the prompt I was dreading getting to all last week… but I do like how this turned out! Enjoy! :)
> 
> -.-
> 
>  **[shallura month (2017) // day 4](http://ebonynightwriter.tumblr.com/tagged/mine:%20shallura%20month%202017)** · garrison / altea
> 
> -.-

Allura walks through the halls of the Castleship, the soles of her feet tapping on the smooth floor, the echoes floating to the ceiling. The ship is still, the day is quiet.

And the training deck is empty.

She goes to the equipment room first, going past the shields and spears, staffs and swords and training visors until her hands graze the device she’d been after. Once she finds it, she returns to the deck. The lighting on the upper observation tower is off, dark shadows turn the ceiling to a void.

Taking a seat in the middle of the room, she places the mind-meld device upon her head, and thinks of Altea.

.

.

.

She imagines the mountains first — great ranges spreading far across the land, their peaks sharp and bases sturdy. She imagines the animals, the critters and creatures that ran, leapt and flew through the environment. She imagines the flowers, the trees, the fruit—

But she can’t remember — not for certain.

The thought annoys her, and the image she’d been crafting to the device disappears in a blurb of static. Sighing, she moves her thoughts elsewhere, remembering the cities, houses and roads. They take form on the screen, and the people stand among them, happy and secure. Allura smiles at the fragment, a tightness growing in her chest.

The image fades again — Altea turns to ash in her mind.

“Allura?”

She turns quickly, removing the gear from her head as Shiro walks into the room, clad in his Paladin armor. Allura stands, hiding the device behind her back.

“Shiro!” she says cheerily. “What are you doing here?”

“I was thinking about doing some training,” he says. “But I can leave if you’re using the room.”

“No, that’s alright,” she says. “I was just about to leave.”

She walks toward the equipment room, slipping the device to her front—

“—is that the mind gear?” Shiro asks, hand on his hip. “We haven’t used those in a while.”

“Oh, yes,” she turns, rolling the headgear in her hands. “I was working on forming the Blue Lion, since we’re working with a new line-up.”

“Want me to get the team?” he asks, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. “It’d work better in a group.”

“No, there’s no need to bother them,” she says. “I’m sure they’re all busy—”

He walks past her. Going into the equipment room for a brief moment, he returns with a mind-melder hanging from his hand.

“Can’t hurt to try, right?” he asks with a smile. “Even if it has one leg.”

Allura sighs.

“Very well.”

.

.

.

Shiro’s focus is, as always, astounding. No sooner does he sit and place the device on his head than the hologram of the Black Lion appears, ready to form the one-legged Voltron. Allura looks at the device in her hand for a moment before placing it on her head. She focuses, forming the Blue Lion an instant later.

“That’s good,” Shiro says. “You’re a natural at this.”

She manages a nod, turning her thoughts back to forming Voltron. The Lions transform as they move, their pixelated pieces shifting in a series of blurred images — one leg and torso. It makes Allura feel ashamed, for using the device in a fleeting attempt to see Altea once again. She should have—

The Black Lion disappears.

“Allura,” Shiro says, staring ahead at her hologram. “Is that—”

She removes the device in an instant, the image of Altea vanishing to thin air.

“I’m sorry,” she says, turning her face away. “That should not have happened.”

Shiro sighs, taking off his device and setting it between his open lap. He is silent for a  moment — a long moment, and she feels the heat of shame creep upon her cheeks.

“You weren’t in here training, were you?” he finally says. “You were remembering Altea.”

“Yes,” she admits. “I am sorry, I should have told you before.”

She stands, walking away.

He does the same.

“Why didn’t you?” he frowns, walking up to her stilled form. She stands with her back to him, collecting the words, the explanation.

“My memories aren’t what they once were,” she says. “It must be an effect of being in cryo-sleep for so long. I only have pieces of memory left, of that time. The rest have faded. I’m here… grasping at threads.”

Shiro lower his head, facing the ground.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I can’t even begin to imagine…”

She turns to him.

“Do you remember Earth?”

“Sometimes,” he says. “Mostly the Garrison. The training I went through there… well, let’s just say I’d wouldn’t be much of a Paladin without it.”

She smiles softly.

“Yes… your ‘rogue cluster training’ is essential for freeing the universe.”

Shiro smiles back, a small chuckle in his throat.

“Yes,” he says. “ _Especially_ that one.”

Her lips fall as she meets his eyes. Her hands move in front of her waist, the device hanging from her fingers.

“I do miss Altea deeply,” she says. “But... I hope it will not always bring sadness to think of it. I want to try to remember what I can — as many joyous memories that remain.”

He puts a hand on her shoulder.

“You know we’re here for you and Coran if you need us,” he says. “You’re not alone.”

Her smile returns, her gaze moving to her hands.

“Thank you, Shiro,” she says. “I will remember that.”

He nods.

“Always.”


End file.
